Saucy past of Monty's new birdie

Last updated at 11:11 29 December 2004

Golfer Colin Montgomerie's beautiful ex-wife, Eimear, is furious that he has been snared by a flirty mother-of-two he met on the school run. But she can, at least, take some comfort from the fact that short-skirt-loving Joanne Baldwin, 43, waited until Colin's divorce came through before seemingly making her move - unlike the first time she tried to bag a millionaire.

For when Joanne had an affair with technology entrepreneur Geoffrey Finlay - which included regular canoodling in a sauna - he was happily married and had just celebrated the birth of his first baby. Eventually, Finlay's wife, Chrissie, cited Joanne - then single and using her maiden name of Edgerley - in their divorce.

Chrissie, who is now 50 and hasn't remarried, tells me: "I am afraid it is true. I don't really want to talk about it, but I can confirm that this woman targeted my husband.

"She did everything in her power to get him. It nearly ruined my life. I was shocked but hardly surprised to learn she had done it again."

Chrissie, who lives in Westminster and is now a millionaire property developer, had given birth to her son, Simon, three months before the affair between her husband and Joanne came to light.

Finlay - now 52 and living in Spain - met Joanne at Thorpe Park's waterski lake, near Chertsey, Surrey. A friend says: "Geoffrey loves water-skiing, and Joanne was also regularly at the centre. While Chrissie was at home looking after their baby, Joanne was making eyes at him over the ski ramp."

The affair came into the open shortly afterwards when Finlay - who went on to become chief executive of the technology company Kewill Systems - was in hospital after a waterski accident.

"When Chrissie arrived to visit him one day, she saw Joanne already there.

"At first, Joanne said she was a babysitter called Fiona at the waterski school," says the friend.

"But then Chrissie found out that this other woman was going to the hospital on a regular basis.

"Even the nurses were grumbling about her looking after Geoffrey, mopping his brow and acting like Florence Nightingale."

Chrissie later discovered that Finlay and Joanne had been meeting for sex in the sauna at the waterski school and at nearby hotels. Their relationship continued after his divorce and lasted around four years.

Chrissie adds: "I was naturally very, very upset at the time, but I would sooner forget about her. I have a wonderful son, Simon, who is now 20 and my life moved on."

What of Colin's relationship with Joanne? They spent Christmas Day apart - he at his parents' in Troon, Scotland, and she at her home in Surrey with her two children and estranged husband. But they were together on Boxing Day evening at his £2.5million London penthouse.

Has Bella tamed tanned lothario?

Has perenially tanned lothario Peter Stringfellow finally met his match in the heavenly form of his 22-year-old girlfriend Bella Wright, a former ballerina with the Royal Ballet?

On Christmas morning lucky Bella, who has danced at the Royal Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall, found a stunning multiple-diamond and platinum necklace at the bottom of her stocking. "It was as expensive as it looks," says Peter, 64, coyly from his villa in Majorca, where he and Bella spent a cosy Christmas together.

"I had it specially made for her. She's going to wear it for the first time on New Year's Eve. We're going to an Italian restaurant out here with my transvestite friends Ebony and Ruby Venezuela." Stringfellow, who only dates girls young enough to be his granddaughters, met Bella when she became too voluptuous to continue with ballet and found herself dancing at Peter's erotic club in Paris.

"She gave up working in my clubs six months ago," he tells me."Being my girlfriend is a career in itself." So will Bella be finding an engagement ring at the bottom of her stocking next year? "We'll see. After all, she is only 22," admits Peter.

The death of Sir Angus Ogilvy - which was curiously omitted from the BBC's main bulletin on Boxing Day night - will hit Prince Charles particularly hard.

Sir Angus and his wife, the Queen's cousin, Princess Alexandra, were the first to accept Camilla Parker Bowles. 'While the rest of the royals gave her an extremely frosty reception, Angus and Alex invited Charles and Camilla out as a couple and were both warm and welcoming,' I am told.

In return, Charles took Sir Angus and Princess Alexandra on holiday with him and Camilla around the Greek islands on board the late tycoon John Latsis's yacht, Alexander.

The pain of Lane...

The producers of The Producers, the hit West End musical, have a headache. The star of the show, American Nathan Lane, 48 - who was drafted in on £38,000 a week just days before the show opened, after Hollywood star Richard Dreyfuss was dropped - has a bad back.

He first injured it two minutes before going on stage on December 16, the night the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles attended.

Lane missed two further performances, and his back was troubling him so badly last night that he decided to pull out again.

His understudy, Cory English, had to step in. "I can't comment on whether Mr Lane will be finishing his run," says a spokesman. "We are taking it on a day-by-day basis, and only know a couple of hours before the performance whether he will be appearing." Lane's spectacularly successful run is due to end on January 10 anyway, when he will be replaced by fellow American Brad Oscar.

PS

The Queen's staff at Sandringham in Norfolk re-invented a Roman battle technique in order to cope with Princess Anne's infamous bull terriers over Christmas.

Apart from walkies, the mutts - Florence and Dotty - have been mostly confined to Anne's quarters.

Last year, Florence savaged the Queen's oldest corgi, Pharos - who had to be put down - and bit a maid.

This year, the staff were taking no chances and after some discussion they decided they would enter the Princess's room only in groups of four. Shuffling forward together in close array, they used footmen's large trays as shields to protect themselves.

A source says: "They looked like Roman soldiers going into battle. They put up three of the large trays in a row and worked behind them so that the dogs couldn't get near. It was the only way they felt safe."